Sofa bed



M. FOX

SOFAl 4BED Oct. 6, 1959 4 Sheets-Sheet 41 Filed sept. s, 1955h a r @N I:w m o .w M\ im 7 m\ mNawPllmvN \N o b\ o i Q MN ,fm .I .N Nm NW, NN uw Vl 1N.: WV L `f Q mi LILN M. FOX

SOFA-BED Oct. 6, 1959 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 M. FOX

vSOFA- BED Oct. 6, 1959 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Sept. 9, 1955 W .NFL

M. FOX

SOFA BED Oct. 6, 1959 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Sept. 9, 1955 FIEEI his*sorA. BED

Application September 9, 1955, Serial No. 533,486 3 claims. (C1. ys 1z)This invention relates to sofa beds, and in particular it relates to asofa bed in which a seat frame is movable between a retracted rearwardlyand ydownwardly inclined sofa position and a horizontal bed position,and equalizer means are provided for assuring that the movement of theseat frame is parallel to the base yframe upon which it is supported.

The principal object of the invention is to provide a sofa bed ofextremely simple and rugged construction sov as to be suitable for hoteland similar transient use Where the handling of the sofabed is likely tobe particularly rough. g

A further object of the invention is to provide a sofa bed in which thebase frame has a pair of upwardly and forwardly inclined tracks at itstwo end members upon which the rear of the seat frame is supported andhas a pair of rollers at the front of its end members on which theforward portion of the seat frame is supported so that the seat framemay be easily moved between a retracted inclined sofa position and aforwardly extending horizontal bed position.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide a sofa bed which hassuitable detents to fix the seat fra-me in its sofa position and in itsbed position.

Yet another object ofthe invention is to provide a sofa bed constructionin which the seat frame may-be moved forwardly from bed position so thata person making the bed or cleaning may stand between the rear of theseat frame and the back of the sofa.

Another-object of the invention is to provide a sofa bed which has anequalizer assembly to maintain the sub-, stantial parallelism betweenthe seat frame and the base frame during movement between bed positionand Vsofa position regardless of where the seat frame is gripped to moveit.

The invention is illustrated in a preferred embodiment in theaccompanying drawings in which:

Fig. l is a fragmentary Ysectional view of a sofa bed embodying theinvention taken as indicated along the line 1-1 of Fig. 4 with the seatframe in bed position;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary section on an enlarged scale' taken as indicatedalong the line 2-2 of Fig. 5;

Fig. 3 is a View similar to Fig. 1 with the seat frame in sofa position;Y

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary section taken as indicated along the line 4-4 ofFig. l; and

Fig. 5 is a section taken as indicatedalong the line 5 5 of Fig. l.

Referring to the `drawings in greater detail, the sofa bed of thepresent invention has a rectangular base frame indicated generally atwhich includes end members 11, an angle member forming a front rail 12and a flat back rail 13. At the rear of the base frame 10 is a backfra-me indicated generally at 14 which has a forwardly extendingupholstered back 15 at its upper end.

Mounted on the end members 11 is a pair of supporting track members 16each of which includes a forwardly and upwardly inclined track portion17 and a horizontal forward track portion 18. At the rear of theinclined track portions 17 are stop pins 19.' Mounted adjacent thefronts of the end members 11 are roller brackets 20 for seat supportingrollers 21;

A rectangular seat frame, indicated generally at 22, has end 'rails 23formed of angle members with their upright arms outermost and extendingupwardly, an angle member 24 which Yforms a back rail with its uprightarm at the rear and extending upwardly, and an angle member 25 whichforms a front rail and has its upright arm extending downwardly. As seenin Figs. l, 3 and 5, the seat frame 22 is narrower than the box spring Band mattress M, shown in broken lines, which rest upon it, and isprovided at its center with a forwardly extending arm 26 which extendsto the front of the box spring and is provided with a pull member 27.The forward portion of Y' the seat frame 22 is supported on the rollers21 and its lower rear ends of the .tracks 16 against the stop pins 19 asshown in Fig. 3 the seat' frame 22 occupies a rearwardly inclinedposition which gives it a slope for comfortable sitting. In thisposition a pair of legs 31 on the front rail 25 of the seat frame areslightly above the iloor. In order to move the seat frame from the sofaposition of Fig. 3 to the bed position shown in Fig. l it is necessaryonly to grasp the pull member 27 and pull the frame 22 with the boxspring B and mattress M supported on it forward so that the rearsupports 2S travel up the inclined sections 17 of the tracks 16 and ontothe horizontal sections 18 of those tracks. As this movement takesplace, the vend rails 23 of the seat frame roll on'the rollers 21 andvrock with respect to the base fra-me 10 so that in bed position thefront legs 3-1 rest on the floor. As seen in Fig..3, the end rails 23are provided with rivets 32 which act as detents to engage behind therollers 21 in sofa position so that the seat vframe may not beinadvertently moved forward; and as best seen in Fig. 1 the end rails 23also have a pair of closely spaced rivets 33a and 3317 which flank therollers 21 in bed position to prevent accidental movement lof the seatframe in either direction from' that position.

` One of the difliculties in the use of most sofa beds is that a personmaking thebed must do it entirely from one side, and furthermore thereis a space beneath the back cushion and behind the seat frame which isnormally inaccessible for cleaning unless the entire sofa is moved.These difficulties are overcome in the present construction by thehorizontal track portions 18 which extend nearly to the front of thebase frame 10. This permits additional forward movement of the seatframe 22 from bed position until the rear supports 28 strike the rollers21 which limits forward movement of the seat fra-me and prevents therollers 29 on the rear supports from dropping off the fronts of thetracks 16. When the seat `frame is in its full forward position a personmay stand between the sofa back 15 and the seat frame for convenience inmaking the bed.

One major difliculty in the operation of sofa beds is that a personmoving the seat frame in or out is very likely to take it by one corner,or push it near one end, which tends to skew it on the base frame andcause binding of the supporting members. This diiculty is overthe frontmember 12 of the base frame 10 in line with the depending pivot bracket35 is an upstanding pivot bracket 37, while opposite the depending slidebracket 36 is an upstanding slide bracket 38 having a longitudinal slot-3851. -An angle member 39 is pivoted at40 on ,the up?v standing pivotbracket 37 and has a pin 41Aat its opposite end which engages the slot36a so that the angle member 39 forms a tirst equalizer strut. A metalbar42 is pivoted at 43 on the depending pivot bracket 35 and has at itsopposite end a pin 44 which engages the slot 38a in the upstanding slidebracket 38 to for-m a second equalizer strut. The snuts 39 and 42 arepivotally connected at their midpoints by means of a double headed pin45. The pivoted cross struts 39 and 42 serve to retain-the seat frame 22in its normal position parallel to the base frame during movement oftheseat frame on the tracks 16 and rollers 21. Thus, a person moving theseat frame in and out need not use the handle 27 in order to obtain asmooth, non-binding movement of the seat frame on the base frame. l

The foregoing detailed description is given for clearness ofunderstanding only and no unnecessary limitations are to be `understoodtherefrom, as some modifications will be obvious to those skilled in theart.

I claim:

1. In a sofa bed: a rectangular base frame having low front and backrails and relatively higher end members; a pair of forwardly andupwardly inclined tracks on the rear portions of said end members; apair of rollers in front of said tracks; a rectangular seat frame themargins of which are substantially parallel to those of said base framesupported on said tracks and rollers wholly aboveV the plane of thefront and back rails for bodily, unitary movement between a retractedsofa position and a for;

rear of the seat frame; an upstanding pivot bracket and anv upstandinglongitudinally slotted bracket on the frontrail of the base frame, theslots and pivots in said brackets being substantially coplanar in bedposition of the seat frame; and a pair of crossed struts pivoted attheir midpoints, one of said struts being pivoted. on the dependingpivot bracket and slidably engaging the upstanding slotted bracket andthe other of said struts being pivoted on the upstanding pivot bracketand slidably engaging the depending slotted bracket.

2. A sofa bed comprising: a rectangular base frame having low front andrear members and higher end members; a pair of forwardly and upwardlyinclined tracks on the rear portions of said end members, the forwardportions of said tracks being in a plane substantially above said frontmember; a pair of supporting vrollers on the front portions of said endmembers; a rectangular seat frame having end rails supported on saidrollers, said seat frame having front and rear rails, and end railswhich are longer than the base frame end members so the front which areclear of the dloor in sofa position and support the front of said seatframe in bed position; and equalizer means connecting the rear rail ofthe seat frame to the front member of the base frame, said equalizermeans comprising an upstanding pivot bracket and an upstandinglongitudinally slotted bracket on the front member, a depending pivotbracket and a depending longitudinally Y, slotted bracket on the rearrail, the pivots and slots in clined tracks on the rear portions of saidend members,

said tracks having horizontal portions at their forward ends whichterminate at a point well forward of a vertical plane through the frontof the padded back; a pair of supporting rollers on said end membersimmediately fort ward of said tracks; a seat frame supported on saidtracks and rollers for movement between an inclined sofa position withits rear portion substantially at the rear of the base frame, ahorizontal bed position with its rear portion at the rear of thehorizontal portions of the tracks and beneath the front of the paddedback, and a horizontal forward position with its rear portion at thefront of the tracks and substantially forward of the padded back, saidseat frame being deeper from front to rear than said base frame andhaving a front portion always in front of the base frame; fixed legs onsaid front portion of the seat frame which are always forward of thebase frame, said legs being clear of the floor in sofa position so thatthe front of the seat frame is supported on the rollers, and resting onthe oor in bed position and in forward position to support the front ofthe seat frame in said positions; intermediate detent means whichstrikes the rear of the lrollers to check forward movement of the seatframe when it is in bed position, said detent means being low androunded to override the rollers for movement of the seat frame toforward position; and end stop means adjacent the rear of the seat frameto abut against the rollers in forward position and positively preventfurther forward movement of said frame.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS632,053 Karpen Aug. 29, 1899 1,182,731 Anthony May 9, 1916 1,726,778Thum Sept. 3, 1929 v1,783,531 Bebry Dec. 2, 1930 1,790,884 Thum Feb. 3,1931 1,976,443 Foster Oct. 9, 1934 2,240,216 Johnson Apr. 29, 19412,557,734 Fox June 19, 1951 2,565,784 Sheean Aug. 28, 1951 2,642,584Petersen et al lune 23, 1953 2,708,959 Dingaman et al May 24, 1955FOREIGN PATENTS 72,050 Norway May 5, 1947 263,009 Switzerland Aug. 15,1949

